Chapter 253: Malevolent Soul Mass

The sphere shot forward, merging with his chest.

Cold exploded through Finn’s body instantly. He felt like he’d been plunged into arctic waters while simultaneously feeling power flood through every cell. When it settled, frost coated his skin briefly before sublimating away.

His soul density increased again. More significantly this time. The creature had been stronger than the previous three, and assimilating it had pushed him notably higher.

Finn breathed out, and the air crystallized for several meters in front of him before falling as snow.

Behind him, Vara stared with something approaching religious awe. Finn had defied every form of logic and frame of reference she had for power. She didn’t even know how to classify him any longer. Champion? What kind of champion could achieve half the feat he just did? Incarnation? An incarnate vessel for which God exactly? Which God could control so many random forms of power?

Her eyes turned gloomy as she realized her chances of taking the Sea God’s inheritance was getting infinitesimally smaller as Finn grew stronger.

Finn turned to face them. His eyes were still glowing green, but now there was a crystalline quality to them. A sharpness like frost forming on glass.

“One more,” he said. “Then I rest before the Sea God.”

He walked past them without waiting for responses, heading back toward the corridor. The ice in his path melted before he reached it, heat and cold radiating from him simultaneously in ways that shouldn’t be possible.

Althea exchanged a glance with Ailin. The Blessed’s expression was unreadable as always, but there was a glint in her eyes that disappeared very quickly. For that split second it almost felt like the Blessed had been more

. Althea paused as Ailin reverted back to normal so quickly that she didn’t even know if what she had seen was real.

The Blessed walked past her, following after Finn, along with Vara and Slick Jones. And after a moment of hesitation, Althea also followed.

They walked to the central hall in silence. No one seemed to know what to say. Besides Althea’s observation, the casual dominance Finn had displayed had also shifted something in the group dynamic. Made it clear, if it hadn’t been already, that he operated on a different level than all of them.

Finn stood in the center of the hall, looking at the remaining corridors. His breathing had returned to normal, though he was clearly tired. Not from the fight in particular — that had been almost trivial with his current power — but from the cumulative effort of assimilation.

“Corridor 18,” he said, starting toward it without pause.

Symbols covered the walls inside this corridor. Hieroglyphics that spoke words Finn didn’t understand, but could’ve if he chose to observe them more carefully and get immersed.

But he didn’t.

Finn kept his eyes forward, not examining the symbols too closely. The feeling he got from the symbols wasn’t normal. They felt malevolent, like their knowledge was dangerous to possess.

“Be careful here… Don’t look at anything too closely,” he warned quietly as they walked to the end of the corridor and entered into the chamber.

The chamber this time was cathedral-sized. The ceiling disappeared into darkness overhead, so high the sourceless light couldn’t reach it. The figure at the center this time looked vaguely humanoid. It had two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head. But everything was weirdly proportioned.

The arms had too many joints, bending in places they shouldn’t. The legs seemed to twist rather than extend straight down. The torso was segmented like an insect’s. The head was smooth and featureless except for a single vertical line that might have been a mouth or maybe the entirety of its facial organs. In its chest was a glowing red light. The true soul mass.

Finn approached slowly, studying the figure with his enhanced perception. The soul mass inside was old. Possibly older than the Tyrant, and perhaps even many others stronger in rank. It seemed much smarter and wily too. Unlike the ice creature that had attacked immediately, this soul mass simply watched… waited…

And as Finn drew closer, he frowned. The level of malevolence reeking from the soul mass was on another level. This was pure, distilled malevolence that had nothing to do with survival or territory or any natural instinct. This thing had been evil

when it lived purely because it wanted to be evil.

The feeling reminded him of predators from Earth. Hyenas that killed for sport. Animals that tortured prey before eating it. But this was on an entirely different scale. This soul mass, when it lived, had perfected cruelty. Finding new ways to inflict suffering. Not for sustenance or dominance, but because causing pain had brought it joy.

Finn activated his Error vision, observing the core of the creature where its soul mass lay. Despite feeling very confident, he wasn’t about to take any chances at all. He intended to assimilate this soul mass with pure brute force in one swoop.

“Stay back,” Finn said quietly to the others. “Further than before.”

Something in his tone made even Vara obey without question. They all retreated to the chamber entrance, watching from what they hoped was a safe distance.

Finn stood before the massive creature alone, eyes focused on the true soul mass at the core of the still creature, calmly observing.

Then suddenly, with blistering speed quick enough to take the creature off guard, Finn’s full soul might descend, not giving the creature any time to assess and prepare.

“Will.”

The vertical line on the creature’s head opened like a wound. Red light spilled from it, and with that light came a sound. A psychic scream that carried centuries of accumulated malice.

The ancient consciousness stirred inside the shell of the creature it had once been. Finn felt it come at his soul furiously and with utter malevolence. His defenses were naturally raised, but he still braced his soul for impact…

Nothing happened.

Finn frowned immediately. This creature was far more intelligent than he’d given it credit. It actually halted at the last moment and took in the whole view of Finn’s soul right at the moment when he’d braced himself.

It recognized that Finn had a solid, dense soul, much more powerful than itself. So it instead chose to look for weak points that would arise when his focus was lacking.

And what better time for that than the moment when he braced for impact.

Naturally it spotted a weak point… or rather, what it thought was a weak point. It dashed straight for it, but Finn simply cracked a smile.

What a joke. Trying to find flaws in Error itself…?

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